When TOU rates aren’t enough: BGE, other utilities expand active managed charging for rising EV load

With over 3 million electric vehicles on U.S. roads, managed charging pilots need to be scaled before infrastructure upgrade costs start rising, analysts and utility executives agree.

By Herman K. Trabish • Dec. 4, 2024

A costly lesson in supply and demand: How to address PJM’s capacity shortages

The first law of holes says that you should stop digging when you’re in one. It’s time to stop retiring dispatchable resources if we don’t want the hole we’re in to get any deeper.

By Michelle Bloodworth • Dec. 3, 2024

Explore the Trendline➔

Electricity Supply and Demand

After nearly two decades of flat demand, U.S. electricity consumption reached an all-time high in 2024 and is expected to continue rising. This trendline brings together the best of Utility Dive’s coverage of emerging trends in supply and demand and the decisions being made today that will impact the power system for years to come. 

By Utility Dive staff

Duke pauses consideration of DOE loan program with Trump election, new Congress

Given the uncertainties around future Department of Energy lending, it makes sense to delay a review of potential benefits from the Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment program, Duke Energy told North Carolina regulators.

By Ethan Howland • Dec. 2, 2024

ECP plan to buy 5.3 GW could drive up PJM capacity prices, Public Citizen, others tell FERC

Energy Capital Partners should disclose whether it intends to divert the plants’ output to supply data centers, according to Public Citizen, Private Equity Stakeholder Project and the Sierra Club.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 27, 2024

EPRI, Kraken advance DER interoperability standards to boost virtual power plant deployment

“Without interoperability standards, VPPs cannot reach scalability, affordability, and reliability as soon or as efficiently as they will be needed,” said Arshad Mansoor, CEO of the Electric Power Research Institute.

By Herman K. Trabish • Nov. 27, 2024

Constellation asks FERC for PJM rules on data centers and other co-located load

In a complaint, the independent power producer contends Exelon utilities are blocking co-located projects at Constellation’s nuclear power plants in Illinois, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 26, 2024

New York City faces potential electricity resource shortfalls in 2033, 2034: ISO

Transportation and building electrification, along with commercial projects like data centers and chip fabrication, are driving peak demand higher, according to the New York Independent System Operator.

By Robert Walton • Nov. 26, 2024

Affordability, data center growth and more: 9 state utility regulators reveal their top challenges

Utility commissioners from across the U.S. say their most pressing issue is balancing affordability with the utility spending required to meet demand growth and maintain reliability.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 26, 2024

EPA proposes tightening NOx limits for new gas-fired power plants

The outlook for the standards — last updated in 2006 — is unclear under the incoming Trump administration.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 25, 2024

Data center boom fuels demand for nuclear projects

A shift in how tech companies like Google and Amazon meet their energy needs is creating opportunities for construction firms equipped to handle atomic power work.

By Sebastian Obando • Nov. 25, 2024

Ratepayer advocates press FERC for PJM capacity market changes, citing ‘crushing’ prices

A complaint filed on Monday comes as the PJM Interconnection is preparing to propose capacity market reforms, such as reflecting reliability must-run units in its next two auctions.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 19, 2024

Texas report recommends low-interest loans for advanced nuclear, similar to gas plant fund

The report, released Monday by the Public Utility Commission of Texas, says the state can become a global leader in advanced nuclear energy with funding and a new regulatory regime.

By Robert Walton • Nov. 19, 2024

Oklo reactor pipeline swells to 2.1 GW as demonstration project advances

The advanced reactor company has completed key milestones for its first planned deployment and added up to 750 MW in potential future orders, CEO Jacob DeWitte said on Oklo’s Q3 2024 earnings call.

By Brian Martucci • Nov. 18, 2024

Trump taps North Dakota Gov. Burgum to run Interior, new national energy council

President-elect Donald Trump said his administration will “dramatically” increase baseload power generation, which “will reduce the cost of electrical bills that continue to skyrocket for citizens and small businesses.”

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 18, 2024

Natural gas supply is a bulk power reliability risk this winter: NERC

Gas producers have taken “a multitude of proactive measures to prepare for winter weather," Natural Gas Supply Association CEO Dena Wiggins said.

By Robert Walton • Nov. 15, 2024

Generative AI deployment at Diablo Canyon is a first for US nuclear power sector: PG&E

The NVIDIA-supported search and data retrieval application is the start of a series of AI-powered solutions vendor Atomic Canyon aims to deploy across the nuclear industry, CEO and co-founder Trey Lauderdale said.

By Brian Martucci • Nov. 14, 2024

Biden administration sets plan to triple US nuclear energy capacity by 2050

The road map aims for 200 GW of net new capacity from newly built reactors, restarts of plants retired for economic reasons and power uprates of existing reactors, the White House said Tuesday.

By Brian Martucci • Nov. 13, 2024

Gas-fired generation likely needed to maintain reliability for years: SPP, Black Hills

“We've got to have something else to keep the lights on … and right now, the best option that we have for generation over the next several years looks like it's natural gas,” SPP’s Bruce Rew said.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 13, 2024

Gas-fired generation for data centers offers bridge to net-negative carbon future: MISO’s Moeller

Regulatory structures are designed to prevent rapid buildouts — partly in response to previous power sector overbuilds — but “suddenly we need to go fast,” MISO President and CEO Clair Moeller said.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 12, 2024

Trump taps former Rep. Lee Zeldin to lead EPA

The Trump administration will likely roll back EPA regulations affecting fossil-fuel power plants, including a carbon emissions rule, according to Michelle Bloodworth, president and CEO of America’s Power.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 12, 2024

FERC’s Talen Energy-Amazon decision unlikely to impact NuScale data center plans: CEO

NuScale also expects its application before the NRC to uprate its reactor design from 50 MW to 77 MW to conclude by mid-2025, CEO John Hopkins noted during Thursday’s Q3 earnings call.

By Brian Martucci • Nov. 11, 2024

FERC approves 6-month delay to PJM’s next 3 capacity auctions

The delay stems from a complaint alleging that PJM’s rules do not account for the impacts of reliability must-run power plants in the grid operator’s capacity auctions.

By Robert Walton • Nov. 11, 2024

Trump win is ‘setback’ for climate protection, but clean energy advocates say progress will continue

Trump’s victory means a Republican will be selected to lead FERC, which will likely work to rein in transmission incentives, said Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen's Energy Program.

By Robert Walton • Nov. 6, 2024

FERC’s AWS, Talen Energy ruling ‘not the final word’ on nuclear, data center colocation: Constellation CEO

The company’s “foot is on the accelerator” to close data center deals as it works to restart Three Mile Island Unit 1 by 2027, CEO Joe Dominguez said on its third-quarter earnings call Monday.

By Brian Martucci • Nov. 5, 2024

AEP, others press for FERC guidance on ‘gargantuan’ issue of data center colocation

Google is interested in colocation to meet its data center needs, not to avoid grid costs, said Brian George, the company's U.S. federal lead for global energy market development.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 4, 2024